$A closes firmer on sunnier consumer print

THE Australian dollar has closed firmer following an upbeat consumer sentiment reading and renewed pressure on the greenback.

At 1700 AEST on Wednesday, the currency touched 94.63 US cents, up from 94.02 cents on Tuesday.

Twenty minutes after closing, the Australian dollar hit 95 US cents for the first time in five days, a big turnaround from a 33-month low of 93.26 US cents hit on Tuesday night.

The recovery gained momentum in late morning trade, after the Westpac/Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment reading for June rose 4.7 per cent to 102.2 points, above the key 100 level signifying optimism.

"I'm sure that the better consumer sentiment has helped, and certainly during our morning the Aussie did do better," Westpac chief currency strategist Robert Rennie told AAP.

But he said the Australian dollar's recovery had more connection to a weaker greenback, as traders weighed up when the US Federal Reserve would wind back its asset purchasing program.

"The market seemed to make the assumption that next week we won't get any formal plans therefore US dollar was sold in the afternoon session," Mr Rennie said.

The Australian dollar faces renewed pressure on Thursday, when labour force data for May is released.

The median forecast from an AAP survey of 13 economists is for the unemployment rate to rise to 5.6 per cent, up from 5.5 per cent in April.

The number of people with jobs is expected to fall by 10,000 in May, compared to a rise of 50,100 in April.